Napoli and Fiorentina seal draw

MILAN: Fiorentina defender Facundo Roncaglia, aided by a blunder from Napoli goalkeeper Morgan De Sanctis, scored from just inside his own half in a 1-1 Serie A draw yesterday.

Uruguay forward Edinson Cavani replied for Napoli with his 100th Serie A goal and 17th of the season to take his side level on points with Lazio in second place.

Napoli and Lazio both have 43 points from 21 games, five behind Juventus who thumped Udinese 4-0 on Saturday.

Giampaolo Pazzini scored twice, the second an exquisite lesson in close control, to give AC Milan a 2-1 win over Bologna while bottom club Siena ended a run of six successive defeats by beating Sampdoria 1-0.

Fiorentina and Napoli served up a dismal opening half hour, punctuated by cynical fouls, bickering and five yellow cards, before Roncaglia inadvertently put the hosts in front in the 33rd minute.

From just inside his own half, the Argentine defender floated a long ball forward into the Napoli penalty area where it was completely misjudged by De Sanctis, flew over the goalkeeper's head and bounced into the goal.

The usually dependable De Sanctis also collided with a defender while Roncaglia sheepishly celebrated.

Cavani spared Napoli's blushes nine minutes later when he scored with a glancing header following a low free kick from the left.

It was his 66th league goal in only two-and-a-half seasons with Napoli to add to 34 goals in just over three seasons with Palermo.

Napoli could have won it in the second half but were denied by Fiorentina goalkeeper Neto who produced a miraculous save to stop Goran Pandev's header from six metres on the line.

Milan and Bologna also produced a dreary opening which matched the conditions on a foggy winter's afternoon at a sparsely-occupied San Siro.